The over expensive Nikon Df was a disaster from the onset. Priced too high and did too little, this gem of a camera capitalized on its old looks to sell more but at US$2,700? A kit with a lens cost US$3K! What were they thinking? Pre-orders at Amazon was dismal at best and with it, the possibility of quick price cut after the Christmas season just to meet their profit forecast for their financial year that will end in March 2014.
What Nikon didn't learn was that the digital age heralded an age of price sensitivity. Nikon's own ILC line suffered a similar fate when new models were priced out of the market.
Nikon needs to understand they are not Apple nor do they manufacture the iPhone but somehow all that was lost in translation when the realities came a calling.
There is a difference between a high class hooker and a street whore. Nikon sees itself as a high class hooker but somehow the people's perception just doesn't quite gel with it.
Why would you buy into a camera system costing thousands of dollars when one one is really making money out of professional photography? Ok, you want to look good with a spiffy camera draped around your neck? Then go get a Leica.
Nikons are for journeymen who in their spare time, whip out a camera to shoot some images for safe keeping. Everyone else shoots on an iPhone and post pictures to Instagram and Facebook. What more can you ask?
In the good old days people shot pictures and kept albums to share them physically. They also made copies for decorating their homes. Who does this sort of thing now?
The humble camera is nothing more than a tool and Nikon has to recognize that it can't keep on declaring profits based on a shrinking pool of users. The age of the serious Smartphone photographer is already upon us.
Nikon has to dip its toes into that reality before they get carried away with the old world view of camera ownership.